It's mid-September, and I'm overwhelmed - heck, paralyzed - by the knowledge that I should have a lot more preserved by now. Green beans have all but disappeared from the market and tomatoes are even starting to wain. I had a small breakdown when I came home from the market on Sunday with only 30 heads of garlic to store and none of the green beans and corn I had been hoping to freeze. The cost of equipment and my lack of expertise have left me with only one bag of green beans and some corn in the freezer. And even though I've registered for a beginner canning class offered by David of Classy Sassy Salsa in a week and a half, I have this terribly feeling that once I know how to do it, I won't have anything to can anyway!
In this state of crisis (completely unreasonable, I'm sure), you can perhaps understand why I nearly kissed the cashier today at Henry's on discovering that the latest Mother Earth News magazine (conveniently placed in the impulse rack) had an article to calm all my fears. In neat little tables, they have listed all the best veggies to place in cold storage, the best to dehydrate, the best to can using pressure, and the best to can using a water bath, when they're in season (there's lots more coming!), and how long they'll last once preserved.
I believe there may be hope after all.
The article is available on their website by following this link.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Mother Earth News' guide to preserving
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3 comments:
I've never dried any foods before, but I just finished putting up 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce, and some pizza sauce is boiling down now. The remainder of the 1-1/2 bushels of tomato puree is in the fridge, waiting for tomorrow's canning. Maybe I'll try dehydrating next year!
okay, how are you supposed to keep things that cool in San Diego?
Leanne - In an ideal world, I would have a basement or an air conditioned house, but as this ideal world has yet to appear, I will not be doing any cold or underground storage. I'm going to stick to freezing and canning this year.
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